Self-locking garment hanger



June 28, 1949. s. KREITMAYR I SELF-LOCKING GARMENT HANGER Filed April 7, 1945 v INVENTOR. 5Y1. v5.5 75/? hns/ rMA m Patented June 28, 1949 UNITED STATES' PATENT OFFICE SELF-LOCKING GARMENT HANGER Sylvester Kreitmayr, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application April 7, 1945, Serial No. 587,045

This invention relates to an attachment for garment hangers, for locking the hooks of the hangers against accidental displacement from a supporting line or rod, and one of its objects is to provide a simple attachment, which may be easily attached to the garment hanger hook, and operated to lock the hook on a supporting line or rod, or to release the hook from the line or rod.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a safety lock for garment hanger hooks, which includes a U-shaped portion adapted to clutch the shank of a garment hanger hook, and another U-shaped portion or arm adapted to confine the supporting line or rod in the arch of the hanger hook, so that the hook cannot be accidentally displaced from the line or rod.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain new and useful constructions, combinations, and arrangements of parts, clearly described in the following specification, and fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation, showing a conventional garment hanger supported on a clothes line, and also showing the attachment in locked relation to the hook of the garment hanger.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the garment hook and attachment, in locked relation thereto.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the attachment removed from the hanger hook.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the practical embodiment of my invention, 5 designates a conventional garment hanger, which is provided with a conventional hook B.

In the conventional use of the hanger the hook is mounted on a clothes line I, or upon a rod or other horizontal support, and the garment which is hung on the hanger may be easily displaced from the supporting line or rod, by the action of the wind, when the garment is hung out in a yard or in the open air; or by careless handling when the garment is hung in a house or store.

To prevent accidental displacement of the hung garment from the supporting clothes line or rod, I provide an attachment 8, which includes a U-shaped clutch arm 9 and a U-shaped hook locking arm H), which extends laterally of the clutch arm 8.

The U-shaped clutch arm 9 includes the side walls H and i2, and the connecting end wall I 3. The side walls I l and I2 are formed with arched 2 Claims. (Cl. 24232) edges ll and 12', which are bent slightly toward each other, so as to have a spring clutching action on the shank 6a of the garment hook. These side walls are also formed with outwardly directed finger lugs l4 and i5, located below the clutch edges II and I2, and which are adapted to be engaged by the finger or thumb of the user, so as to enable the user to forcibly displace the clutch jaws H and I2 from the shank of the hook.

The U-shaped locking arm Ill is provided with side walls l6 and I1, and a connecting end wall l8. This and wall is formed with openings I8a and lab, through which the hook arch to may be threaded, in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3, thus permitting the free end portion 6' of the hook to project through the end wall I8 below the locking arm Ill.

When the attachment is in locked relation to the garment hanger hook, the locking arm ill will extend across the hook arch Eb, thereby confining the clothes line or supporting red I under the hook arch, which is closed thereby.

The lower end of the clutch arm 9 normally engages the hanger 5, so that the attachment cannot slide downwardly on the hanger hook, and the releasing finger lugs l4 and I5 project laterally of the shank Ba of the hook a sufi'lcient distance to develop the movement necessary to disengage the clutch arm from the hook shank.

When the clutch arm is disengaged from the hook shank, the locking arm may be slidably disengaged from the arch of the hook, or swung around so that the outer end Illa of the locking arm will be alone disengaged from the hook arch. This outer end is rounded, so that it will not bruise any garment it may engage.

When the arch 6b is extended from the arm [0, the end 6' of the arch at the opening I812, becomes spaced outwardly from said arm, thereby rendering the device readily removable from or attachable to a line 1 or the like. The initial step of assembly consists in entering the end 5' upwardly into the opening 18a, with the arch 6b transverse; then said end is moved circularly, and downwardly through the opening 18?). During the circular movement the arch 6b is also moved into longitudinal relation with the arm I0.

Certain garment hooks are formed with ofiset loops l9, and the clutch arm 9 may be formed with a single longitudinal opening I361 in the end wall l3 to receive this offset loop.

It is obvious that the attachment may be used for locking garment hook hangers on outside or inside garment supporting rods or lines, and the attachment may be used for supporting garments for display in stores, so that unauthorized persons cannot easily remove such hook hangers from their supports. The invention provides means for safely hanging garment hangers in closets, so that a hanger will not be displaced from its support and caused to fall upon a dusty floor, when another garment is removed from a hanger in "the closet or wardrobe.

It is understood that-various changestmay be made in the'details of construction, their combination and arrangement, and in the selection of materials required for the construction of the safety locking device.

Having described my invention, I claim as new:

1. A locking device for a garment :hanger provided'with a shank connected to a yoke and terminating above in an arcuate-suspension hook, said locking device including a U-shaped channel member having opposed edge portions mutually deflected toward each other to produce a resilient clutching action on the shank when caused to clasp .said shank, and a lateral U- shaped arm rigidly extending from the upper REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 94,926 Tracy Sept. 14;, 1869 1,69 0;614 .Bower Nov. 6, 1928 1,973,376 Freedman Sept. 11,1934 

